Canada Post to strike? A bit of (God, I hate myself for using this phrase from work) late-breaking news: due to contractual disputes with the Canadian government, Canada Post may go on strike next Friday morning. This wouldn't normally merit inclusion here unless you've placed orders from our sponsors at Amazon.ca; if those orders don't ship until after Friday, they may be delayed for as long as it takes to resolve the strike. (Where this strike will positively wreak havoc, however, is with those in the U.S. who order prescription medications from across the border.) We'll keep you posted about this issue as it pertains to shipping of items you may have ordered from our sponsors.

Cause: found. Solution: unknown. The board of experts investigating the cause of the Columbia disaster has ruled that a chunk of insulation foam fell off the shuttle's external fuel tank during launch and breached Columbia's left wing, leading to a hot plasma leak into the wing interior during re-entry that caused the shuttle to break up. Even more frightening, it has since been revealed that a similar wing breach occurred during an Atlantis launch in May 2000, a breach which could have had similar consequences. The board will release its final report in August, a report whose safety recommendations NASA must follow - even if it means the shuttle as we currently know it doesn't return to orbit. Source: Associated Press

Red rovers fly over. Last Monday saw the long-delayed launch of NASA's second Mars Rover. The Rover dubbed "Opportunity" took off Monday night en route to the red planet, lagging behind its sister ship "Spirit" by nearly a month. Technical difficulties and unfavorable launch weather slowed the Opportunity launch over the past few weeks, and now both Rovers are scheduled for landings on opposite sides of Mars in January 2004. Source: Space.com

Introducing the Ninth Doctor. In some positively huge news, the BBC has unveiled plans to launch actor Richard E. Grant as the ninth incarnation of the Doctor in a BBC Online animated adventure produced for the 40th anniversary of the show's launch. Grant took a satirical spin on the Doctor in the 1999 Comic Relief spoof The Curse Of Fatal Death (which will not be referenced in Grant's audio play), but is said to be taking a Sherlock Holmes approach to recreating the character in a more dramatic vein. The story, titled The Scream Of The Shalka, was written by Who novelist Paul Cornell, and introduces a new canvas of companions, allies and villains for the ninth Doctor to fight. Cornell also reportedly told Who news site Outpost Gallifrey, "If the response is good enough, then there'll be more. And listen, you never know where this could end up." A DVD release of the story is already in the pipeline; Cornell says to think animated more along the lines of Batman: The Animated Series, not BBC Online's recent flash-animated Shada audiocast. Big Finish is permitted to use the ninth Doctor, though sources with that company have yet to confirm any such plans. But in any event, the regeneration has been OK'ed by the BBC brass, even though a McGann-Grant handoff will not occur in this audio story (Cornell says it will take place some years into the Doctor's ninth life). Source: Outpost Gallifrey

Intellvision in the palm of your hand. Gotta hand it to the original Intellivision programmers: 20 years have come and gone, and they still stick by their original product as one of the most entertaining video game systems ever (quite rightly so, too). And now they're resurrecting the Intellivision - as a self-contained, multi-game system no bigger than a Gamecube controller. The battery-operated gadget comes with an 8-foot A/V cable to connect to your TV or VCR for some instant golden age gaming gratification. Two models are being released; a smaller budget model features the games Astrosmash, Baseball, Football, Motocross, Night Stalker, Shark! Shark!, Skiing, Snafu, Space Armada and Star Strike, while the larger and only slightly more expensive model includes those games plus perennial favorites Basketball, Buzz Bombers, Golf, Hockey, Hover Force, Pinball, Space Battle, Space Hawk, Sub Hunt, Thin Ice, Thunder Castle, Tower of Doom, Vectron, Volleyball and Wrestling. The Intellivision multi-game systems will debut at the Classic Gaming Expo in Las Vegas, August 9th and 10th, with alumni from the original Mattel Electronics programming team on hand to reminisce and even autograph the new systems or your vintage Intellivision goodies. The 25-game model is also now available for pre-order from theLogBook.com; it will ship later in August.

Intellivision 25-In-1 Game System

Both sides now. In one of the most unique approaches ever taken in a Doctor Who adventure whether printed, heard or seen, this month's Big Finish audio adventure - Flip Flop starring Sylvester McCoy and Bonnie Langford - can be listened to in either order. In other words, you can listen to the first disc first, or listen to the second - either way, it's still a coherent four-part story. Also out this month is the single-disc alternate-universe Doctor Who Unbound adventure Full Fathom Five, starring Sapphire & Steel's David Collings as the Doctor. Both are now available directly from Big Finish Productions.

Doctor Who: Flip Flop and Doctor Who Unbound: Full Fathom Five

Data East goes south. The creators of such under-the-radar arcade classics as Burgertime, Lock 'N' Chase, Mission X, Bump 'N' Jump, Ikari Warriors and Rampage, Data East Corporation was officially declared bankrupt in Tokyo's district court in June, a development only recently made public knowledge. After racking up a $28 million debt, Data East filed for reorganization in 1999, which was also the year it last published a game (for the Bandai Wonderswan handheld in Japan). Data East was originally founded in 1976. Sources: Gamespot, Digital Press

Zoned out. It's with a heavy heart that we bid farewell to one of our favorite "third party" vendors, Third Zone Collectibles. For 3+ years now, we've been referring fans of the Big Finish Doctor Who audios to Craig and the gang at Third Zone, but he recently announced that economic realities are forcing him to leave the TARDIS at its next stop. However, you may want to keep an eye on Third Zone's site: there are hints of a Doctor Who clearance sale sometime in the next few weeks. Special thanks to Craig Ernst and everyone at Third Zone - not only have they been supplying theLogBook.com with all of its Doctor Who audio needs since early 2000, but I've never had a moment's hestitation in sending customers their way, based on how well they took care of my own orders.

Earl Green
theLogBook.com webmaster/editor-in-chief

If you can't go, check News@theLogBook.com that weekend for live webcam coverage!